8 remarkable discoveries that make this beautiful moon of Saturn an ideal place to detect aliens

Jessica OrwigOct 30, 2015, 01:36 IST

NASA/JPL/CICLOPS

Enceladus is just one of more than 60 confirmed moons orbiting the giant, ringed planet Saturn.

But it is a very special moon, unlike any of the other 59.

Since 2004, when NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn, scientists have made some remarkable discoveries about this distant, icy world.

Not only does Enceladus contain a vast underground ocean beneath its icy surface, but it could harbor hydrothermal vents on its ocean floor that are generating similar conditions to where life might have originated on Earth.

And that's just the beginning!

Earlier this week, Cassini took a detour to fly extremely close to Enceldus - just 30 miles above the surface. The epic flyby could sniff out compelling evidence for the possibility of life. Scientists are now analyzing the data to see what Cassini found.